


A revelation in the light of day

by Silmarwen



Series: Dimiclaude Week 2020 [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Claude’s Background Spoilers, DimiClaudeWeek2020, Forced Dream-Sharing, Joint Azure Moon and Verdant Wind route, M/M, Past Abuse, implied canonical racism, past bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21980677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silmarwen/pseuds/Silmarwen
Summary: Claude trusts Dimitri with his deepest secrets, what Dimitri doesn't expect is to see those secrets due to a mage's spell taking both him and Claude out during a battle.Dimiclaude Week Day 6: Secret
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Series: Dimiclaude Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589623
Comments: 6
Kudos: 103





	1. Chapter 1

When Claude first approaches Dimitri one evening, late into their planning on taking out an Empire stronghold, he thinks nothing of it. They meet in his room, as Claude’s is full of maps and books. He’s still not sure how Claude sleeps at night in that mess.

Claude laughs and jokes about things to start off, but eventually his mood turns anxious, oddly somber. He’s nervous as he tries to speak.

“Claude?” Dimitri doesn’t like seeing him like this. “Is something wrong?”

“D…Dima…Can you keep a secret?” Claude asks, his smile weak and barely able to hide his fears. Dimitri simply nods, taking his hands to stop them from shaking as Claude collects himself. Whatever he plans to tell him, it is something serious.

Dimitri isn’t expecting to learn of his past, before the monastery. Before the Alliance.

He tells Dimitri of his childhood, of his father, his mother, the cruelty he faced at the hands of others, who hated him for having a mother from Fódlan, for being an outsider and a coward. He spoke of being chased out of markets as a child, of attempted assassinations, of learning to never trust anyone. How he learned to hide behind a smile and scheme, all just so he could survive to live another day. Of his dreams to change the world, so other kids like him could live without the fear he grew up with.

He keeps speaking of the horrors he was put through, until Dimitri can’t take it anymore, pulling him close, holding him tight as Claude collects himself in his arms. Silent sobs escape him until he falls asleep, and Dimitri promises him that his secret is safe with him.

* * *

It was supposed to be an easy mission, taking out a group of bandits terrorizing villages near the monastery. Neither Dimitri or Claude had to even come along, but Claude said it’d be a good chance to work on his axe skills, a good warm up. Instead when they arrived, they found in place of the bandits the bird masked mages assisting Edelgard. The bandits lay dead at their feet, used for some cruel experiment.

There was no way they'd let these mages go and Claude viewed it as a chance to detain one of them for questioning. With their skill in battle, the battle should have ended without issue. So why did it end up like this?

Claude lays at the feet of the remaining mage, unconscious as magic swirls around him, body shivering from whatever hold the magic has on him.

“What did you do to him?” Lysithea howlers, sounding as furious as Dimitri feels. He’s close, close enough to kill the man and get Claude to safety. 

“Something fun, once it's completed.” The mage prepares to attack with the spell again. Dimitri can’t wait, even the smallest opening is all he needs.

He lashes out, the mage reacting but not fast enough to avoid him. Magic slams into his gut as Areadbhar lodges into his enemy’s chest.

Everything starts fading to black as he falls to his knees. The sounds of shouting around him drowns out everything until eventually even that fades along with his consciousness.

* * *

It’s dark when Dimitri opens his eyes. Unnervingly dark, he can’t make out a thing as he pushes himself to his feet, glancing around for any signs of the others.

“Felix? Sylvain? Professor? Claude!” He calls out. No reply. The silence in the darkness is suffocating, artificial. Is he under the influence of the mage’s spell? Is this what Claude was experiencing? He takes a few steps forward, aimlessly reaching his hands out when he hears a sound behind him.

In the distance stands a group of children. They surround a lone boy, young, possibly six years old, who’s curled on the ground, hands covering his head as he sobs. The children’s laughter rings out, cruel as they kick at the boy.

“Stop that this instance!” He calls out, reaching for one of the children. When his hand phases through them he pulls back, shocked. They’re not real. This isn’t real.

“You’re weak, coward!” One of the children shouts as Dimitri stares at his hand.

“Outsider!” Another joins in.

They all start screaming insults at the boy as he curls in tighter, sobbing louder.

Dimitri watches horrified, unable to do anything to help him. The scene pricks at his mind but it all fades back into the darkness before he can put the pieces together.

He’s alone again. He must find a way out of, whatever this is, but the scene and helplessness he witnessed has him stunned. He’s still taking it in as everything begins to shift and bend around him.

Moments later he finds himself in a small room. Someone is pinned to the floor, another sitting on their chest, their dagger poised and ready. He knows it’s pointless but again he reaches out to try and stop it. Again, he simply phases through the assailant’s hand. 

Dimitri looks on in horror, realization clicking in that the boy on the ground is the same one from before, only a few years older now. He watches, unable to do anything as the boy struggles to stop the dagger from coming down and stabbing into his heart. 

Suddenly the door bursts open, a large man rushing in. “Claude!” 

Dimitri feels his blood run cold, mind drifting at the realization as the man lodges an axe into the attackers back, tossing them off the boy. Off _Claude._ Familiar green eyes look up, past Dimitri to the man who saved him, trying to contain a sob as he’s pulled into protective arms. 

The man takes Claude from the room and when Dimitri tries to follow, he finds himself enveloped in darkness again.

“Claude.” He whispers to himself. He remembers that night weeks ago, of Claude telling him of his past. Now he’s witnessing it, witnessing past events and being powerless to do anything.

He’s holding his head in his hands when he hears Claude cry out in pain. Trembling, he looks towards the sound to see Claude on the ground, convulsing and vomiting as another assassin smiles from above with some form of twisted satisfaction on their face.

Slowly Claude reaches over as they laugh, limbs twitching in pain as he grabs onto something, driving a dagger into their leg before he stands and bolts off, staggering into the walls as poison courses through his body. Again, everything fades to black before Dimitri can follow.

To be so powerless, forced to watch the cruel treatment Claude faced, it's frustrates Dimitri. Claude is one of the smartest people he knows, to see the horrible treatment he went through, compared to hearing about it, it makes his body burn with rage, reminds him of the taunts Dedue still faces when people think he’s out of earshot. 

The darkness fades and now Claude stands with a man who reminds Dimitri of the Alliance leader he knows now. This must be his father and the King of Almyra, as Claude had told him all those nights ago, he deepest secret. People speak to the king, bowing and showing respect. Claude, a little older, watches beside him. It is eerily familiar, nostalgic even and Dimitri thinks back to doing the same by his own father's side. 

He doesn’t miss the men that glare at Claude when his father's attention is elsewhere. How even at twelve years old he's already wearing that smiling mask of his.

The darkness returns, and it repeats. Scenes of Claude getting insulted, attacked, demeaned, of him constantly being alone are shown to Dimitri, taunting how he can only watch, unable to stop it.

Slowly things begin to fade as something starts pulling at his consciousness. Claude, he needs to see him. He needs to speak to him, to make sure he’s okay. It might mean nothing now, so long after it all happened, but he wants to hold him close, to comfort him. As darkness falls around him, he worries about what Claude is being forced to see.

* * *

He feels a chill as he opens his eyes, sitting up far too fast in the infirmary bed as he panics over the sudden change in his surroundings. 

Mercedes runs to his side. “Dimitri! By the Goddess, you’re awake!” She smiles, wiping the sweat off his face as he looks around, exhaustion clearly still hampering his body.

“Wh-What? What happened?”

“Your Highness.” Dedue’s voice draws his attention as his retainer moves to his side as Mercedes examines him. “The battle was won shortly after you fell to the mages spell. It was deemed better to move you both here to recover.”

Dimitri looks for Claude, but the other bed beside him is empty.

“And Claude?”

“He woke a few hours ago, under a great deal of stress. I told him to continue resting but he wanted to be alone.” Mercedes sighs. “I believe he went up to the third floor. He should still be there since I’ve told the others to make sure he doesn’t leave the second floor.”

Dimitri needs to talk to him. “And the magic?”

“That’s difficult to say. Lysithea said it put you both through something mentally, like a nightmare but Claude didn’t want to talk about what he experienced. Do you wish to speak of what you experienced Dimitri?”

“No, I’d rather not.”

“I understand. Whatever you experienced must have been an ordeal.” Her soft smile, sympathetic and comforting, makes him feel a little better. Mercedes always has this comforting effect on everyone.

Dimitri moves to get up. “Your Highness, you need to rest.” Dedue puts his hand on his shoulder, encouraging him to lay back down.

“I need to speak to Claude.” Dimitri tells him. “I will return to rest after, hopefully with him as well.”

Dedue tries to change his mind but Mercedes interjects. “A little walk won’t hurt him Dedue. And you need to rest yourself. I will take care of them when they return. And if he takes too long, I’ll bring him back to rest.” She doesn’t hide the threat hidden in that promise.

“Thank you, Mercedes.” He whispers to her as he leaves, making his way up to the third floor. He’s thankful he’s out of his armor, quieting his footsteps. He cannot be sure how skittish Claude is after whatever he dealt saw in his own mind.

Claude is standing on the balcony, head staring up at the clouds overhead.

“Claude.” He announces his presence, anxious to how the other man will react.

“Dima, what did you see?” He asks him, still staring high into the sky. Dimitri doesn’t miss how stiff he is, tense and unsure. 

“I saw…Claude, I saw you.”

Dimitri waits for Claude’s reaction, the silence between them suffocating. Slowly, he turns to him, skin off-color and expression so unlike any he’s ever seen him wear before. Scared, pained, anxiously waiting for something to come, a strange understanding even.

“Claude.” He whispers, watching as Claude looks everywhere but into his lone eye.

“I…I’m glad I told you. About it all, before you were forced to see it.” Claude doesn’t try to smile, shoulders slumping as he leans against the balcony. Dimitri takes the chance to walk closer, standing close to him but holds his hand back, he’s not sure if Claude wants to be touched or not right now.

He relaxes a little when Claude looks up at him, staring for a moment before leaning into his shoulder.

“Claude, I’m sorry.” He murmurs, gingerly wrapping his arms around him.

“Neither of us had a choice over what we saw.” Claude’s eyes are a storm of emotions, he looks exhausted.

“And you?” If Claude saw his own past, he already knows what the answer is.

“Duscur, your ghosts. I knew it was horrible but to see it, it’s difficult.” Claude looks at him, sympathy and misery in his eyes. “You didn’t deserve any of it Dima, to lose so much and then become so burdened by it all. You never had the chance to live because of it all, dragged down by the dead.”

Dimitri sighs, he’s still dealing with his ghosts, even after all of Claude’s hard work to help him. He starts gently rubbing soothing circles over the other’s back instead of focusing on them.

“Your past was horrible too, Claude. You should never have been put through any of it. Know that I will always be by your side, no matter what. I care deeply for you, I won’t let anyone hurt you like that again.” He tells Claude every honest desire in his heart, hoping his words can bring him some form of comfort.

“I know.” Claude’s voice trembles, a sob threatening to slip through as he gives him a weak, honest smile. “Know that I will always be by your side as well, Dima.”

“Together.” Dimitri kisses his forehead, letting Claude move to pull him closer into a kiss, tears falling down his cheeks. “Neither of us need to go through any of this alone, not anymore.”

Claude chuckles, hiding his face in his shoulder as he continues to cry.

_I’ll protect you from anyone who dares hurt you. I swear it._ Dimitri silently promises him, letting Claude cry as much as he needs, holding back his own tears. He knows Claude will comfort him when he likely wakes up sobbing tonight, old nightmares tormenting him, but at least in this moment, he can comfort the man he loves here and now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1 and Dimitri's pov.
> 
> This story has three parts to it, Dimitri's pov, Claude's pov and the original story I wrote as a bonus, under the context of Claude not revealing his secrets to Dimitri in advance.
> 
> The reason I have two different versions is I felt, unsure about which version I prefer. The original version, where Claude's secret is still a secret to Dimitri, feels like Claude gets backed into a corner. I am including it, so people can decide which version they prefer. I personally prefer the version shown here in chapter 1 that goes into chapter 2.


	2. Chapter 2

Claude stares into the empty darkness as he rubs the back of his neck. The annoyance he feels at falling into the mage’s trap is starting to subside after what feels like hours of going over again and again what went wrong with his sneak attack.

“Hmmm, must be some strange spell.” He considers what influence he’s under. He believes he’s not dead. He hopes he’s not dead.

A twinge of panic passes over him as he remembers hearing Dimitri voice call out before he lost consciousness due to the pain. What if he did die? He doesn’t want to have his death fuel Dimitri into another spiral of revenge. No, there’s enough people around him now to help him avoid that. He still believes he’s not dead though, there’s too much stuff left for him to do as well.

They still must win this war. And then he needs to head back to Almyra.

A heavy sigh escapes his lips. Almyra. To head home and claim his birthright. To leave Dimitri to handle Fódlan without his help. It’s because of this he finally told him his deepest secret just weeks ago.

“What does the mage intend to do with me in this-“ Suddenly everything starts spinning and he curses his luck. Of course, it’d change when he asks about it. Isn’t that how these things always worked out? The additional splitting headache that accompanies the spinning isn’t helping either.

When it stops, Claude hears children laughing and the crunching of snow beneath their feet. He looks around as the darkness lights up around four children playing in a fresh snowfall, giggling and laughing.

“Well, if they’re trying to make me jealous, this is always a start.” Claude mumbles sarcastically, glancing around. The lack of a chill immediately tells him it’s all an illusion.

The children keep playing, though there’s something familiar about the four of them, their hair, their eyes. Not their laughter, sounding so crisp and pure. He can’t place anyone who laughs like that among their group.

The little boy with raven colored hair bolts up as he hears someone approaching in the distance. “Glenn!” He shouts out and everything snaps into place.

He knows of someone named that, someone who died ten years ago. Someone who Dimitri speaks too even now on his worst days. Before he can turn to see the ghost of a man, everything runs black.

“Okay, okay. If that was Glenn, then the boy calling to him was Felix.” Claude can’t even believe it, that Felix could be that small, that adorable and happy. But then again, he realizes, if Glenn’s alive, then this is all before the Tragedy, before everything fell apart.

“The spell, it’s showing me someone’s memories.” He figures out this much and suddenly worry takes over. “Whose memories am I seeing though? Dimitri? Sylvain? Felix? Ingrid?” The chance whoever’s memories he’s seeing are seeing his own is a big issue. There’s only one person among them who even knows of his past.

Before he can spiral anymore into his own thoughts, the darkness shifts again, and he’s given his answer. He’s standing in a throne room, as the young boy with blond hair stands beside a man who reminds Claude so much of Dimitri. This must be Dimitri’s father, the former King, Lambert. Dimitri is watching his father intently as he speaks to nobles, discusses things with them.

It’s adorable really. It should be, but seeing Dimitri treated as the prince he is, loved by the guards around him, by the castle servants, that makes him more jealous then watching them play earlier. It stings, reminding him of when he once stood by his own father’s side and only got looks of hatred.

He worries. He’s told Dimitri of his past, but Dimitri and his bleeding heart is likely seeing what he went through as a child. He worries for the emotions Dimitri will feel, and he feels selfish over it.

Things slowly repeat as he watches Dimitri grow up, showing him moments with his father, his stepmother, with Sylvain, Felix, Glenn and Ingrid. There’s a change when the darkness fades to reveal Dimitri talking to a young girl, light brown hair done up in pigtails.

“Dimitri, you should learn how to properly dance.” She scolds him, though the smile on her face is warm.

“Will you teach me El?” Dimitri asks, and Claude remembers something small, something Dimitri confessed to him when he spoke of his own past, feeling Claude deserved to know. That Edelgard was his stepsister. The reason why he felt so betrayed by her choice to wage war.

“So, this is how things were for them?” Claude murmurs to himself as he watches Edelgard teach Dimitri the steps to the dance, maybe a waltz.

It all feels somber to him when everything fades away again. Oh, how he’d want these happy memories back when time moves on and the spell takes him to the moment he knew was coming, was preparing himself for but somehow knew, he’d never be truly ready to see it.

Red, flame and blood are what the darkness fades away to. Duscur, the Tragedy. Dimitri stands in the middle of rubble and death, the decapitated head of his father in his hands as he sobs. Claude rips his eyes away from him to see the carnage around him. He’s sure it smells just as bad as it looks. Everywhere corpses lay, and in the distance, he can make out figures. The people who framed the people of Duscur, Dimitri’s told him of them before.

A brief moment he spots a bird mask, a confirmation of what Dimitri’s theorized.

Taking a steady breath, he looks back to Dimitri, sobbing in shock and covered in blood. “Oh Dima.” He whispers, and for the first time he tries reaching out to him. He knows it’s pointless, but trying hurts less then just watching.

“This spell is just cruel.” He mutters. The true benefit in battle is knocking him out in the middle of a battle, the rest is all just adding insult to injury, a twisted way for the caster to find satisfaction in mentally tormenting their victim.

Everything fades again, and then the other tragedy unfurls before him. The true massacre, the people of Duscur, cut down while Dimitri screams for them to stop. That it’s not them, that they did nothing wrong. Dimitri, expression far more familiar to the man he knows now, is only able to save one life, Dedue’s life. He protects Dedue with anger and venom in his voice from anyone who dares approach.

Claude watches on as Dimitri starts to become the boy he first met at the academy, hiding the thirst for revenge under his honest smile. He witnesses when he earns the nickname ‘Boar’ from Felix, fraying their already damaged friendship. Claude sees so much and all he wants to do is to sooth Dimitri like he always does. Dimitri did all he could, but his mind put it all on his own shoulders.

The dead weight too heavily on his already heavy shoulders. He almost swears he can hear his ghosts, screaming. The dead don’t have the right in dragging Dimitri down. He hates this.

Everything fades away into the darkness again.

* * *

His body is sore when he slowly opens his eyes. The ceiling looks familiar. The monastery infirmary.

“Oh, you’re awake.” A warm voice calls out, Mercedes.

“Yeah.” He pushes himself up, glancing around the room as he tries to control his breathing, showing his own panic more then he’d like. Dimitri is asleep in the bed beside him, looking lost in a nightmare. Lost in his past. It’s a complicated feeling.

“Claude, you should rest.” She frowns as he moves to get up, ignoring how she and Dedue both try to encourage him back into bed, flinching when they touch him.

“I just, need some fresh air.” He flashes them both his reassuring smile, but their reaction show it’s not hiding anything for once. He wants to hide, curl in on himself as he pieces together his mind after seeing Dimitri’s past, his pain. “I’ll just be on the third-floor balcony, I’ll be right back after a bit.”

They relent and let him leave, and he’s glad they didn’t push about what he experienced, for the panic rising in his stomach is starting to get to him, he could very well crack simply from hearing Mercedes comforting voice. The fresh air helps, but what he really needs is to speak to Dimitri, alone.

So, he waits. He knows Dimitri will search for him when he wakes. So, he waits, thinking of what he’ll say to him and what they’ll do from here.

* * *

Claude takes a deep breath, cuddling closer to Dimitri. Mercedes would be mad if she saw them sharing the small bed in the infirmary, but she’s resting herself, can’t scold them until she returns in the morning. And it’s cold out, the infirmary covers are so thin, so naturally Claude sneaks into Dimitri’s bed for warmth, no other reason.

That’s what he’d tell her when she catches them in the morning. But really, he just wants to be close to him.

Since the balcony they haven’t spoken of what they saw. Dimitri seems to want to keep Claude comfortable, easing his nerves by gently rubbing his back, whispering compliments in his ears, knowing they always make him flush, drawing out an honest smile from his lips, one he thought impossible to show anyone.

Claude thinks back to what he’s seen of Dimitri’s past. Of what he once had, of what he lost, of what his loss drove him to do, of his ghosts.

“Dima.”

“Yes?” Dimitri hums, hand slung over his waist as Claude nestles into his side.

“Whenever you feel unsure or your ghosts get loud, tell me.” Claude considers his words carefully. “I want to be there, to help you, through it all, for as long as I can.”

Claude stares into his eye, waiting for his reaction.

“Claude.” Dimitri whispers, a faint smile on his lips as he bends down, kissing his forehead. “Yes. And I want you know to, no matter what, call on me when you need me, even if it’s just to hold you.”

Claude laughs, joy blooming in his chest. “Of course. I’ll hold you to that, Dima.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 and Claude's pov.


	3. Extra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The original version of Chapter 1 where Claude hadn't told Dimitri about his past.

It was supposed to be an easy mission, taking out a group of bandits terrorizing villages near the monastery. Neither Dimitri or Claude had to even come along, but Claude said it’d be a good chance to work on his axe skills, a good warm up. Instead when they arrived, they found in place of the bandits the bird masked mages assisting Edelgard. The bandits lay dead at their feet, used for some cruel experiment.

There was no way they'd let these mages go and Claude viewed it as a chance to detain one of them for questioning. With their skill in battle, the battle should have ended without issue. So why did it end up like this?

Claude lays at the feet of the remaining mage, unconscious as magic swirls around him, body shivering from whatever hold it has on him.

“What did you do to him?” Lysithea howlers, sounding as furious as Dimitri feels. He’s close, close enough to kill the man and get Claude to safety. 

“Something fun, once it's completed.” The mage prepares to attack with the spell again. Dimitri can’t wait, even the smallest opening is all he needs.

He lashes out, the mage reacting but not fast enough to avoid him. Magic slams into his gut as Areadbhar lodges into their chest.

Everything starts fading to black as he falls to his knees. The sounds of shouting around him drowns out everything until eventually even that fades along with his consciousness.

* * *

It’s dark when Dimitri opens his eyes. Unnervingly dark, he can’t make out a thing as he pushes himself to his feet, glancing around for any signs of the others.

“Felix? Sylvain? Professor? Claude!” He calls out. No reply. The silence in the darkness is suffocating, artificial. Is he under the influence of the mage’s spell? Is this what Claude is experiencing? He takes a few steps forward, aimlessly reaching his hands out when he hears a sound behind him.

In the distance stands a group of children. They surround a lone boy, young, possibly six years old, who’s curled on the ground, hands covering his head as he sobs. The children’s laughter rings out, cruel as they kick at the boy.

“Stop that this instance!” He calls out, reaching for one of the children. When his hand phases through them he pulls back, shocked. They’re not real. This isn’t real.

“You’re weak, coward!” One of the children shouts as Dimitri stares at his hand.

“Outsider!” Another joins in.

They all start screaming insults at the boy as he curls in tighter, sobbing louder from all the insults.

Dimitri watches horrified, unable to do anything to help him. Slowly, it all fades back into the darkness.

He’s alone again. He must find a way out of, whatever this is, but the scene and helplessness he witnessed has him stunned. He’s still taking it in as everything begins to shift and bend around him.

Moments later he finds himself in a small room. Someone is pinned to the floor, another sitting on their chest, their dagger poised and ready. He knows it’s pointless but again he reaches out to try and stop it. Again, he simply phases through the assailant’s hand. 

Dimitri looks on in horror, realization clicking in that the boy on the ground is the same one from before, only a few years older now. He watches, unable to do anything as the boy struggles to stop the dagger from coming down and stabbing into his heart. 

Suddenly the door bursts open, a large man rushing in. “Claude!” 

Dimitri feels his blood run cold, mind drifting at the implications as the man lodges an axe into the attackers back, tossing them off the boy. Off _Claude._ Familiar green eyes look up, past Dimitri to the man who saved him, trying to contain a sob as he’s pulled into protective arms. 

The man takes Claude form the room and when Dimitri tries to follow, he finds himself enveloped in darkness again.

“That was Claude.” He whispers to himself. He’s seeing something he shouldn’t be. Claude’s always been secretive about his past. He’s told him during long evenings discussing plans and schemes that one day he’ll tell Dimitri, when he’s ready. He knows Claude’s not ready yet. And now he’s being forced to see his secrets instead of hearing them from him. He desperately wants to block it all out, before he sees even more.

He’s holding his head in his hands when he hears Claude cry out in pain. Trembling, he looks towards the sound to see Claude on the ground, convulsing and vomiting as another attacker, an _assassin_ he realizes, smiles from above with a grin of twisted satisfaction.

Slowly Claude reaches over as they laugh, limbs twitching in pain as he grabs onto something, driving a dagger into their leg before he stands and bolts off, staggering into the walls as the poison courses through his body. Again, everything fades to black before he can follow.

To be so powerless, forced to watch the cruel treatment Claude faces, it frustrates Dimitri. Claude is one of the smartest people he knows, to see such horrible abuse to him, it makes his body burn with rage, reminding him so much of the abuse Dedue still deals with daily. 

The darkness fades and now Claude stands with a man who reminds Dimitri of the Alliance leader he knows now. This must be his father and the thought strikes him with a familiar feeling, remembering his own father. People speak to Claude’s father, bowing and showing respect. Claude, a little older, watches beside his father. It is eerily familiar, nostalgic even and Dimitri thinks back to doing that same by his own father's side. 

And then it clicks, and he wishes, wishes so desperately that he wasn't learning this here, against Claude's will. Learning this, surely Claude's deepest secret, risks all the trust he has in him. 

They are the same, and yet he doesn’t miss the men that glare at Claude when his father's attention is elsewhere. How even at twelve years old he's already wearing that mask, hiding his feelings behind a smile.

The darkness returns, and it repeats. Scenes of Claude getting insulted, attacked, demeaned, of him constantly being alone are shown to Dimitri, taunting how he can only watch, powerless to do a damn thing.

Slowly things begin to fade as something starts pulling at his consciousness. Claude, he needs to see him. He needs to speak to him, to apologize, to make sure he’s okay. As darkness falls around him, he worries.

* * *

He feels a chill as he opens his eyes, sitting up far too fast in the infirmary bed as he panics over the sudden change in his surroundings. 

Mercedes runs to his side. “Dimitri! By the Goddess, you’re awake!” She smiles, wiping the sweat off his face as he looks around, exhaustion clearly still hampering his waking state.

“Wh-What? What happened?”

“Your Highness.” Dedue’s voice draws his attention as his retainer moves to his side while Mercedes examines him. “The battle was won shortly after you fell to the mages spell. It was deemed better to move you both here to recover.”

Dimitri looks for Claude, but the other bed beside him is empty.

“And Claude?”

“He woke a few hours ago, under a great deal of stress. I told him to continue resting but he wanted to be alone.” Mercedes sighs. “I believe he went up to the third floor. He should still be there since I’ve told the others to make sure he doesn’t leave the second floor.”

Dimitri needs to talk to him. “And the magic?”

“That’s difficult to say. Lysithea said it put you both through something mentally, like a nightmare but Claude didn’t want to talk about what he experienced. What did you see, Dimitri?”

“For now, I’d rather not speak of it.”

“I understand. Whatever you experienced must have been an ordeal.” Her soft smile, sympathetic and sad, makes him feel a little better. Mercedes always has this comforting effect on everyone.

Dimitri moves to get up. “Your Highness, you need to rest.” Dedue puts his hand on his shoulder, encouraging him to lay back down.

“I need to speak to Claude.” Dimitri tells him. “I will return to rest after, hopefully with him as well.”

Dedue tries to change his mind but Mercedes interjects. “A little walk won’t hurt him Dedue. And you need to rest yourself. I will take care of them when they return. And if he takes too long, I’ll make sure he returns to rest.” She doesn’t hide the threat hidden in that promise.

“Thank you, Mercedes.” He whispers to her as he leaves, making his way up to the third floor. He’s thankful he’s out of his armor, quieting his footsteps. He cannot be sure how skittish Claude is after whatever he experienced.

Claude is standing on the balcony, head staring up at the clouds overhead.

“Claude.” He announces his presence, anxious to how the other man will react.

“Dima, what did you see?” He asks him, still staring high into the sky. Dimitri doesn’t miss how stiff he is, tense and unsure. 

“I saw…Claude, I saw you.”

Dimitri waits for Claude’s reaction, the silence between them suffocating. Slowly, he turns to him, skin a sickly shade and face so unlike any he’s ever seen him wearing before. Horrified, scared, pained, anxiously waiting for something.

“Claude, I’m sorry.” All he feels he can do is apologize.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t have a choice. Neither of us did.” Claude’s eyes are a storm of emotions, he’s not even trying to hide behind his normal mask.

“And you?” If Claude saw his past, he already knows what the answer is.

“Duscur, your ghosts. I knew it was horrible but to see it, it was even worse than I thought.” Claude looks at him, sympathy and misery in his eyes. “You didn’t deserve any of it Dima, to lose so much and then become so burdened by it all. The dead had no right to burden you like that, ever.”

Dimitri reaches out, arms open and waiting as Claude hesitates, eventually leaning in and resting his head in the crock of his neck. “Claude, I know you didn’t want me to learn any of that.” He whispers, slowly moving his hands to hold him close, rubbing circles on his back.

Claude takes a deep breath. “Yeah. I wasn’t ready.” Dimitri fears he’ll run if he lets go, frame tense in his arms.

“Claude, you should have never been put through something so cruel. I know you’re not ready to talk about it, I won’t make you, I’ll wait as long as need be for you to be comfortable with telling me. Know that I will always be by your side, no matter what, even if you decide to never talk about it. I care deeply about you Claude, I won’t let anyone hurt you like that again.” He tells Claude every honest desire in his heart, hoping his words can bring him some form of comfort.

“I know. I t-trust you.” Claude’s voice trembles, a sob threatening to slip through. “J-Just, keep what you saw between us, p-please. I-I’ll do the same.”

“I will, you can trust me Claude.” He assures him, kissing the crown of his head. “You’re not alone, I’m here, as are many people who care about you.”

His runs his fingers through Claude’s hair as he hears a sob break from the other man’s throat.

_I’ll protect you from anyone who dares hurt you. I swear it._ Dimitri silently promises him, letting Claude cry as much as he needs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, I was torn between both versions, though clearly I like the newer version used in chapter 1. I'm including this version so people can see both, though they are similar there's a different feel between them both.


End file.
